‘Government open to inquiry on Wal-Mart issue’

New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS) The Congress core group, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, met here Tuesday to discuss the prickly issues of Wal-Mart lobbying in the US and the bill for quotas in government job promotions.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath briefed Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde at 10.30 a.m. in Parliament House.

"The group met this morning to renew the current political situation including allegations of lobbying by Wal-Mart in the US to enter India. They also discussed a solution to deal with the job quota promotion issue," said a Congress party source.

The Samajwadi Party has been disrupting Rajya Sabha over the quota bill, providing for reservation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes promotion in government jobs.